Where To Find Sydney❜s Best Babyccino
- Family
By: Alex Harmon, ellaslist
What makes a good babyccino? Is it the cost, the taste, the wow factor or a combination of all these things? We spoke to food blogger and dad of two, Simon Leong who inadvertently became Sydney's babyccino expert when his two daughters started accompanying him on cafe reviews. He now has his own Facebook group where he lifts the lid on Sydney cafes to find out what makes kids froth and where to find a five-star cup!
1. What is your criteria for a good babyccino?
The main thing to keep in mind is the 'baby' in 'babyccino' when considering the criteria. There are two main factors which make a good babyccino for me. First is a baby friendly cup which could either be a paper, plastic, silicone or metal cup so if the cup is accidentally dropped there's no potential for it to break. Secondly, my preference is all froth based on the amount of spillage that can happen if the babyccino is knocked over. This is all based on giving to a toddler where their motor skills aren't quite fully developed but their will power and independence in wanting to do things by themselves is strong. Baristas and cafe owners would learn a lot in 10 seconds if they sat down with a 2 year old and gave them a babyccino — and hopefully learn what not to do.
2. Where in Sydney can we find a five star babyccino?
According to my point system, there's 3 cafes I've come across which have scored this highest rating. Flour Drum in Newtown (see pic above), Monté Restaurant in Leichhardt and Rell's Kitchen in Randwick. I hope they're still consistently serving up this level of babyccino. Many cafes come close to scoring the highest score but sometimes it's just the half froth instead of full froth or the pricing that brings them just short.
3. Do your kids have a favourite?
The favourites will always be the ones that bring a smile to their face, and thus the parents, which is usually any babyccino that manages to create a smiley face on the froth or comes with sprinkles in one form or another. Chocolate freckles on the side will always be a winner as well being so well-loved and a marshmallow will always be appreciated — or a next level multiple coloured heart-shaped marshmallow.
4. Have you seen babyccinos done well outside of Sydney?
It's been a challenge to find time to get out of Sydney for a babyccino due to work and family commitments with two young kids but I've recently visited Wollongong and the barista at Lee & Me did a very impressive job with the froth art that brought a big smile to both the kids and parents (see pic above). If anyone can recommend a great babyccino worth travelling please let me know so I can add to my wishlist.
5. What is the right price for a babyccino?
A free babyccino is always a bonus but I don't believe you can ever expect it to be since it does take up a barista's time to make one and the associated costs in providing one. In saying that there's plenty of cafes which actually do provide them for free as a sign of their hospitality. Prices are best determined by the cafe but I've found a 'good price' is generally $0.50 or $1 which still scores 0.5 pts on my babyccino rating system. Anything above $1 won't score any points and that's because I've still found the majority of cafes are charging $1 or less. I would say any cafes that are charging $2 or more are in the minority and if you're ever charged $3 then you're probably better off ordering a hot chocolate.
To read more of Simon's reviews, check out his blog here: Simon Food Favourites. And don't forget to become a member of his babyccino Facebook page to stay up to date with where to find the best 'ccinos in town!
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